Summer Tournament 2008

The finals of the Horley Lawn Tennis Club’s summer tournament were held on Saturday 19th July and provided an enthusiastic audience with some really entertaining matches.

The day kicked-off with the Ladies’ and Men’s singles matches on the show courts 4 and 5 respectively. Jo Rosendale and Matti Bothwell produced a gripping three set encounter in the Ladies’ singles where Jo’s endurance paid off with a 6-1, 4-6, 6-0 win. At the same time the highly anticipated Men’s singles match was unfolding, in which young-gun Sam Wright faced the club champion Steve Whittle. Sam narrowly lost out to Steve last year, and this time around he succumbed to the more experienced Whittle once again 6-2, 6-3. Steve has now equalled the long standing record for the number of Men’s singles titles won in a row, which is a remarkable 7.

Next to be played were the Ladies’ and Men’s doubles. In the Ladies’, number two seeds Gill Cox and Angie Horne just lost out to the new partnership of Claire Mitchell and Annette Brewis who won 6-4, 6-7, 6-4 in a match which involved many excellent rallies and overall a very high standard of tennis. The Men’s doubles saw the second part of the Sam vs. Steve saga unfold as Steve and his partner Paul Farrugia won a thoroughly enjoyable match against Sam and Owen Wadey. The two pairs displayed clever tactics and good volleying but it was the wiser heads of Steve and Paul that prevailed in the end, winning 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.

A unique situation was discovered for the last final as the mixed doubles was contested between 4 players that had all played in at least one of the other finals on the day, a feat that has not been matched for many years. The top two seeds fought out a close contest, but Sam Wright finally got his reward when he and his partner Matti Bothwell beat Angie Horne and the ever present Steve Whittle 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.